England and Great Britain international Sam Burgess has been served with a suspended $10,000 fine after he labelled the NRL judiciary a ‘Kangaroo Court’.
Burgess’ comments came after Sydney Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was suspended for a trip, with the former Bradford Bulls forward calling the decision “crazy”.
He has now, however, issued a formal apology following a meeting with NRL CEO Todd Greenberg.
Burgess refereed to the NRL judiciary panel as a ‘Kangaroo Court’.
“The chairman and members of the panel are of the highest integrity and it was never my intention to cast any doubt over their character. The point of my comments was to simply express concerns and frustrations I had about the processes,’’ Burgess said.
“I unreservedly apologise for using the phrase ‘Kangaroo Court’. I now understand it was the wrong choice of words.
“Todd and I had an open and honest conversation. Todd talked me through the procedures and rules in place across both the match review committee and the judiciary and I spoke about some of the frustrations players felt about the current processes.”
Todd Greenberg has said the NRL accept Burgess’ apology.
Greenberg says the NRL have accepted Burgess’ apology and consider a fine as a sufficient punishment.
“To Sam’s credit he has apologised publicly and acknowledged his mistake,’’ he said.
“Sam and I have agreed to continue discussions about issues in the game during the off-season with a small group of other senior players equally as committed to ensuring our players are genuine partners in the game.”
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